Minute disintegration of substances



- adjust, repair-and replace.

y objects'- in Viewl which may be incident to my improvements,

Patented rnnnrteioizA Jenn" EDWIN CHINA, or EsHER, ENGLAND-` MINUTE DIsINTEGRA'rIoN-or SUBsTANe'ns.

Continuation of application Serial N o. 599,038, filed November '4, 1922. This A 11, 11924. Serial No. 749,321.

To all whom t may concern.:

' Be it known that FREDERICKJOHN Eiiwiiv QiiiNA, a subject of 'the' King of Great Brit-v ain, .residing at E sher, in the county -of Surrey, England, has invented certain' new and useful Improvements in Minute Disintegra- My invention vrelates tuoimprovements in minute disintegration of substances, and in the Atreatment of particles,`liquid or solid,`

suspended in a 1iquid,-.and more particularly t-o mills for these purposes. This is a .con-

tinuation of my application led November.

el, 1922, Serial No. 599,038.

An' object of my invention is to finely divide' particles to an extremely small diam- ".etei', while at-tlie same time insuring greatv uniformity' of size of particles.

Anothep object 'ofV my invention is te 'uti-1' lize forces existing within a thin film of liq' uid in which particles are suspended, such ilni existing between closely adjacent sur 'faces relatively movable one past the other at high vs'alocity!V Aj 'irtherA object ofV my inventionis to provide methods and apparatus for minutely disintegrating particles, which accomplish the disintegration of a large amount of sub- .stances within a short time 'with a minimum consumption of power.

Yet-another oblect of -myinvention is to provide methods and apparatus. for disinte-4 grating particles in which thereis a mini-` niuin of wear'on the.'machine,'.and a miniin'um of neat generated by the Working'surfaces.

A A still'furthei` object of my; invention is to provide an apparatus which is simple in operation, cheap to manufacture, and easyto lVitli 'these and' `other l the inventionfconsists in. the. parts'and com- "binationsto be hereinafterset forth'and '.claiined, with, the understanding that the`v several necessary elements comprising my invention, may be varied in construction,

proportions and arrangement, without .'de--f s. parting from the spirit and ,scope of the appended claims.

' In order to-'make my invention more clear? ly understood, I have shown in the accompanying drawings means forfcarrying the which the larger end of the film disks. 4

Referring to the di'awings'and particu application nled November tions to the particular constructions, which Y the present invention. tion of Substances, ofw'hich the following p is a speciicati'on.

In lthe drawings Figure l is a verticals'ection of a millin which the larger' end of the rotor is uppermost; v

Fig.- 2 is a similar View of the Amill in the rotor is lowermost.

`. My invention comprises passing av thin highv velocity. Therelare generated in the thin vfilm .of liquid thus acted upon 'forces which actupon the particles, liquid or solid,

ment ofthe surfaces is. great enough, parti cles will be disrupted. The relative velocities of the surfaces and their distance apart,

as well as tlietimeof their operation and vlo :film of liquid, with the suspended particles of liquider solid therein, between sur-faces` .relatively inovableone past the-other. at:

other factors, such as temperature at which it isv carried out. determine the amount of force to which the particles are subjected; Generally speaking, the greater the speed, the' greater the forces-'acting and the\ more closely adjacent the surfaces, the greater the forces acting on the particles in the iilm.

It isiiecessary that the liquid, with the'susp'ended particlestl'ierein be retarded in its passage between the relativelyinovable s urfaces. Such retarding, however, necessarily .takes -placeby reason of the friction between the liquid and the relativelyv movable closelyl adjacent-surfaces, so vthat there is sufficient lretarding in forms of my apparatus where 4of liquid passes freely between larly to Fig.' vl, I have shown a mill which comprises a base 'casting l adapted to be suitably bolted to some support (not shown). Thecasting l is formed with a lower annular flange 3, and an u per annular flange 4. The upper and -lower'liiii'ges 3 and 4: are pi'o- -vided 'with bolt holes 2, through-which'bolts may be passed, asabove set forth.

Formed. within the bottom' 'portionof the casting l? is'an inputduet 8 through which the'liquid .containing the-particles to' b e dis'- diie extremely hard, should ordinarily be of less diameter than the distance between the` working surfaces (later to. be described), otherwise such surfaces Amay belinjured or scored.

Formed in the upper part of the castingy 1 is a smooth frusto-conical working sur-- face 9, and betweenthe working surface 9 and the input duct '8 is comprised a conicaly input chamber`11'. a

Mounted on the casting 1 is a cover .plate- 12, which'forms with the casting 1 an output chamber 13 from which leads an' output duct 14. The casting 1 is formed with an annulan shoulder 16 at its top, and the cover plate 12 is provided with an annular groove 17 in which the shoulder 16 of the castingl tits. Between they groove 17 and 'the shoulder 16, I insert suitablevpacking material 18.

The cover plate l2 is provided with an annular flange 19 which overlies the annular flange 4 of; the 'casting 1; the bolts (not shown) which hold the casting 1 to a suitable su port, pass through holes 20 formed inthe ange 19, as well as the lianges 3 and 4 ofthe casting 1, and maintain the coverplate firmly in place. A careful adjustment of the relative position of the cover plate 12 to the casting 1 must be made in order to 'properly center the working parts;

Mounted on the top of he casting 1 is a ysupporting structure 22. The supporting structure 22 is provided with a flange-23 at its lower end, which is adapted to lie in Contact with the top of the cover plate 12. 'lhe inner periphery of the flange 23 of the support piece 22 is adapted to abut against an annular shoulder 24 formed on the cover. plate 12. A series of holding bolts (not shown) pass throu h holes 25 formed in the cover plate 12 an f any adjusted position.

- the flange 23, and hold the support member 22 in position.l The j support member22 has preferably integrally` formed therewith upwardly extending support spiders 26 which terminate at their upper extremity. in a ring member 27, the' interior surface of the ring member being screw-threaded, as indicated at 28.

A bearing support piece 29 is provided on its downwardly extending annular portion 31 with screw-threads 32which are adapt ed to engage withA the screw-threads 28 of the ring member 27, permitting thebearing support 29 to be adjusted. A lock nut 33 is provided to lock the bearing support 29 in It is through this a-dustment of the bearing support piece'that the distance between the working'surfaces (to be later explained) is effected.

Mymill is provided with a conical rotor having aJ smooth frusto-conical working surface 36 adapted to lie adjacent the smooth frusto-conical working surface 9 of the 'casting 1, and equi-distantly spaced therefrom. The rotor 35 is mounted on a shaft 37 and held securely on'the shaftb means of a bolt 38; on the upper end o the shaft 37 are adapted to be. screwedlockin nuts 41. Below the locking nuts 41the sha 37 has a slightly enlargedportion V42 over. which is is fitted a collar 48 whose upper end con`- tacts with the upper inner ball race 43. The

bearing support 29 is provided with a downwardly extendinoannular shoulderl 49 having annular pac ing glands 51 therein, in which is packed suitable packing to prevent leakage of lubricant from the bearing. A journal box cover 52 is bolted, by means of bolts 53 .to the bearing support 29. The journal box cover 52 has a downwardly Sprojecting annular lip 54, and the upper outer ball race 44 is firmlyv held between the annular lip 54 and the shoulder. 49 formed on the bearing support member 29.

The .'bearing structure comprising the inner and outer upper bearing races and the balls operates as a thrust and radial bearing.

The rbearing will withstand thrust in either ico stand thrust and at the same time can be op erated vat exceedingly high speed without overheating or play..

O n the portion 47 of the shaft 37 is a drive pulley 55 which is keyedt-o the shaft and against which the lower end of the collar @f8-rests. The cover plate 12 is provided with an annular recess 56 within which is mounted the lower bearing and packing structure which I -will now describe.

Mounted on the portion 47 of the shaft extending below the pulley 55 is a collar 57 whose upperendis adapted to engage the lowerend of thepulley 55. rI`he collar is mounted within a packing gland comprising a plate 58 which lies over the upper end of the annular recess 56, and is-bolted, by'means of bolts 59, to the upper side of the cover plate 12. The plate 58 is provided with two annularrecesses. 61 onits inner periphery within which is placed a suitable packing-to form a tight packing joint around'the collar 57.l 'Y I Mounted below the collarv57 'on amen-- larged portion '62 of the shaft 37 is-an inner ball 4race 63, whose lower end-rests against the shoulder-'formed between the pontlon 62' annular recess 56.

- shaft 37.

of the shaft and an enlarged lower portion 64 of the shaft. The upper portion of the inner ball race 463 is in contact with the lower portion of the collar 57. Arranged to slidably fit within the walls of the annular recess 56 is an outer ballrace 65. Between thefinner and outer ball races are balls 66.

To prevent leakage of lubricant through the lower opening of the annular recess 56. through which the portion 64 of the shaft 37 passes, I have formed the annular recess 56 with an inwardly projecting annular slioulder 67. Below the shoulder 67 the inner walls of the recess 56 are inwardly tapered at 68 adjacent the point at which the portion 64 of thelshaft 37 passes through the lower part ofthe cover plate 12.

Fitting around the portion 64 of the shaft `is a packing plate 69 having` a shoulder 71 lying above the shoulder 67 of the cover plate l2, with its outer periphery in engagement with the inner periphery of the The packing plate 69 is formed with a downwardly extending 'lip 72 which fits around the portion 64 of the Between the'lower edge of the downwardly extending lip 72 and the sloped walls 68 in the cover plate,'I havednserted packing material 73 to prevent leakage of lubricant. f

To hold the packing,plate 69 pressed 2against the packing 73, I have formed an place.

whole `upper bearing structure is either raised or lowered by rotating the annular groove 74 in the wall of the recess 56. Within this groove I mount a split ring 75 whose elasticity, when sprung into position, keeps the packing plate 69 pressing against the packing`73. The packing gland thus formed is adaptedto ordinarily stand a considerable number of pounds pressure without leakage. This packing gland near the lower portion of the cover plate noten-ly serves toaprevent lubricant from leaking out of the lower bearing structure, but at the same -'time provides means for preventing liquid within the routput chamber 13 ofthe-mill from passing' into the lower bea-ring, should any considerable pressure be generated in'this -output chamber.

Adjustment of the clearance between the fixed working surface 9 and the rotating working surface 36 of' the rotor 35 canl be very easily and accurately effected," by loos-.

,ening the lock nutSZ-l on the threaded por:

tion 31 of the bearing support 29?'and rotating the bearing support 29 until the exact adjustment is obtained. The working surfaces are held eq'ui-distantly and fixedly spaced when the lock nut 33 is screwedin The bea'ring-support'29 The outer upper ball race 44 ismoved with the bearing support and through the balls 45, carries the inner ball race 43 with it. The inner ball race is shaft, the lower inner ball race 63 must move with the shaft. l The balls 66 causethe outer ball race 65 to slide either up o1' down within the annular recess 56 in accordance' with the adjustment off the shaft. l

It will be apparent, by reason of the bearing mountings and the shaft structure, that when the upper bearing support 29 is either raised or lowered, lthe lower bearing moves with it.

One of the support spiders 26 is made of less arcuate breadth than theothcr support spiders to permit a belt to pass readily over the pulley 55. A suitable'source of power moves the belt and imparts rot-ation tothe pulley '55 to cause the rotor 351:0 rotate. The screw threads which are formed on the upper bearing support 29 are in such a direction that the normal vdirection of rotation of the pulley will cause the upper bearingr support 29 to unscrew in case the lock nut 33 is not tightly adjusted to prevent such an occurrence. ofAsa-fety, for should the proper tightening of the lock nut 33 not be. effected, the nor-4V -mal operation of the machine will tend to gradually increase the distance between the smooth conical working surfaces, thus prethrough the input duct 8 land passesinto the input chamber 11. The rotor is moving at a high i'ate of speed,- and the liquid. with the suspended particles, is sucked in between the working surfaces and'ejected into the output chamber. During the brief time that the liquid, with.V the suspended particles,

takes in passing from the input .chamber through the film and into the output chamber, the particles, if velocities and clearances are properly adjusted, will have been disrupted and found to be of much smaller di ameter` It has beenfdifticult to investigate exactly what happens within the film, and

exactly what forces'are at work, but certain evidence has been obtained inthe following manner:

It has been found that in a mill designed according to my invention and having `tivo concentric co-axial and coacting conical working surfaces, the material dealt with has produced'curved or stream-line markings on Thisgives an addedfaetor the concave conical working surface of the cles along stator. It is not clear whether these markare produced chemically or mechanica y. -In all probability a combination of effects has been at work. These markings,

however, give an indication of the path of shows that this velocity with this form of v mill is less than one-half the peripheral velocity of the rotor. any particle within the film depends chiefly on the following factors 21) Revolution-'speed of the rotor.

v 2) .Diameter of the-rotor.

(3 Angleof the rotor.

45 Thickness of the film.

5) Speed of the liquid through the film (the 'liquid being either through 'the film space) (6) Viscosity of the liquid.

The centrifugal force, under ordinary circumstances, plays an -important factor in pumped or sucked .regulating the time during which the particles-are subjected to the disruptive forces existing wit-hin the film, as well as the mag-l nitude of such' forces. As nearly as. can be determined, the disruptive forces are atleast in -part due to the shearing action which occurs within the film. There is no true grinding action, in the ordinary sense of the term, taking place within the mill. This latter fact' permits of large output with smallntilization of power, and saves wear and tear, on the working parts. There is but slight heating of the mill for a longv continued operation at high speed, which shows that but little force is dissipated in production' of heat. i

By reason of the fact that the working surfaces-are held fixedly' spaced, there can be no accidental touching" of the working surfaces, and hence injury to the mill. The exact thlckness ofthe film for any one operation, once determined, will not vary dur-l ing the operation, for any changes in the relative pressures existing between the input' chamber and the output chamber' will not affect thead'ustment. y

`The mill s o'wn in Fig. 2 comprises a base 101 carried' by a support 102 and .formed with an annular-channel 103, whichv has a 'delivery outlet 104. Above thel basememface 109 is carried by a vertical sha Non' the velocity of- (ber 101 is a body member l105 that has an internal cone surface 106 constituting one of the coacting working surfaces. The body member is surmounted by an inlet cover 107. A rotor 108 having a conical workin sur- 110, the upper end of which is mounted in a suitably designed bearing 111` carriedby the member 101, while its lower end may be mounted on an adjustable foot step. The shaft may be rotated by meansyof a pulley and belt, or in any other convenient manner.

)Vhile l have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction herein set forth, by way of illustration, as it is apparent that many changes and variations may be made therein, by those- 1. A method of disintegratingparticles suspended in a liquid comprising, subjecting a very thin film of the liquid with the suspended particles therein to the action of closely adjacent non-contacting fixedly spaced smooth surfaces relatively movable one past the other at high velocity, and retarding slightly the ejection of the film from its confines ,while on said smooth surfaces to increase internal friction in the film, whereby the particles are disintegrated by reason of the disruptive forces within the film itself, which increase with the increase of the relative velocities of the'moving surfaces and decrease with the increase 'in the thickness of the film.

2. A methody of disintegrating particles suspended in a liquid comprising, subjecting a very thin film ofthe liquid with the suspended particles therein to the action of closelyv adjacent non-contacting fixedly.

internal friction in the film, whereby the particles are disintegrated by reason of the disruptive forces withinrthe film itself which increase with the increase of the relative `velocities ofthe moving surfaces and decrease with the increase in the thickness of the film. I v

3. A method of disintegrating particles suspended in a liquid comprising, subjecting a ver thin film of the -liquid with the suspende particles therein to the action of closely adjacent non-contacting fixedly spaced smooth, surfacesl 'relatively movable one past the other at a v', velocity of from 150 to 600 -feet per-second,` and retarding slightly the ejection of the film lfrom its confines decrease with the increasein the of the film.

while on said smooth surfaces to increaseinternal friction in the ilm, whereby the lparticles are disintegrated by reason of the disruptive 'forces within the. film itself, vf

which increase with the increase ofthe relative velocities of the moving surfaces, and

thickness 4. Av method of -distintegrating particles suspended in a liquid comprising, subjectin'gfavery thin film of the liquidv with the suspended particles therein-to theaction of non-contacting fixedly spacedsmooth surfaces approximately two-thousandths of an inchto twenty-thousandths of an inchI apart, andv relatively movable one past the other at a velocity' of from 150 feet to 600 feet per second, and retarding slightly the ejection of the film from its confines while on'said smooth surfaces to increase internalfriction .in the film, whereby the particles are disintegrated byreason of the disruptive forces within the -film itself, whichincrease with the increaseof the relative velocities ofthe moving surfaces, and'de-- thickness of' crease with the increase in the the film. f I

.5. A method of disintegrating particles suspended in a liquid comprising, subjecting a very thin film of the liquid with the suspended particles therein to the action of closely adjacent Q non-contacting '.ixdly spaced smooth surfaces relatively movable j A -one past they other at high velocity, the diameter of the particles being less than the distance between the surfaces, and retarding slightly the ejection of the film from its confines while on said smooth surfaces to increase internal friction in the` film, whereby theparticles are disintegrated by reasonl of the disruptive forces within the film-'ib self, which increase with the increase of the v '45. In testimony whereof'l affix` my signai 

